Hungover Phillies Rally Late Again, Defeat Dodgers 9-6 To Win Season Series
Sep 16, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies catcher Rafael Marchan (13) watches the flight of the ball on a 3-run home run in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
It’s another late rally and series win over the Dodgers for the Fightin’ Phils.
After clinching the National League East the night prior in a back-and-forth thriller, the Philadelphia Phillies rallied for another comeback win, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-6. With the win, the Phillies secured their fourth win on the season against the Dodgers, giving them the season series against LA, and now the Phillies hold the tiebreaker if the two teams finish with the same record at the end of the season.
It was a story of two different halves, as the Phillies didn’t record a hit in the first five innings of the game. That all changed in the sixth, as the Fightins’ put up a six-run spot thanks to a two-run double from Bryce Harper, a three-run home run from Brandon Marsh, and a solo shot from Max Kepler. The Dodgers eventually rallied late to tie the game at six, but Rafael Marchan regained the lead for Philadelphia thanks to a go-ahead three-run bomb in the top of the ninth.
Cristopher Sanchez was impressive as well in the win, tossing seven innings and recording six strikeouts. Sanchez allowed the first four runs from Los Angeles, all of them coming from home runs. The first home run on the night off the bat of Alex Call ended Sanchez’s streak of homerless innings at 55.2.
Two-way phenomenon Shohei Ohtani was on the mound for the Dodgers, and he got to work right away on the Phillies’ lineup. Harrison Bader grounded out to lead off the game, and Ohtani sent Kyle Schwarber down on strikes looking. After walking Harper, Marsh grounded out on a hard grounder back to Ohtani to end the top of the first.
After cruising through the top half of the inning, Ohtani led off the bottom of the inning with a sharp grounder to second for a single. However, despite the leadoff hit, the Dodgers failed to bring him in, with Mookie Betts striking out, and Teoscar Hernandez and Freddie Freeman grounding out.
Ohtani picked up a pair of strikeouts in the second, and in the bottom of the second, the Dodgers got on the board. Sanchez started the second with a flyout to center from Tommy Edman, but Call’s fly ball to left went over the fence for a solo home run. Andy Pages was up next, and he smoked a ball to left for a single, putting a runner on for Kike Hernandez, who smoked a home run of his own to left to make it 3-0 Phillies.
Sanchez picked up back-to-back strikeouts to end the second, but the hole had already been dug for the Phillies. Both teams went down in order in the third, and in the fourth, Ohtani continued to dominate, picking up another strikeout and still not allowing a hit.
Edman led off the bottom of the fourth with an infield single down the third baseline, and after a strikeout to call, Pages punched a single to right, putting runners on the corners with one out. Hernández was up next, and on the first pitch he saw, he smoked a high and deep fly ball to left field, deep enough to score Edman from third, making it 4-0 Los Angeles.
At just 56 pitches, Ohtani continued to cruise through the fifth, starting the inning off with a strikeout to Otto Kemp, and got a pair of flyouts to end the half. Ohtani led off the bottom of the inning, striking out, and after a single from Betts, Snachez picked up an inning-ending double play.
Heading into the top of the sixth, the Phillies were still without a base hit. Thankfully, the Dodgers decided to pull Ohtani after just 68 pitches, calling on Justin Wrobleski to get through the top of the sixth. Bryson Stott led off the inning with a groundout, but Marchan ended the no-hitter, smacking a single to right.
Bader and Schwarber both kept the line moving, with each of them hitting singles of their own to load the bases for Harper. On the first pitch Harper saw from Wrobleski, he smacked a two-run RBI double to right-center field, scoring two, cutting the Dodgers’ lead in half.
Marsh was up next with two runners in scoring position with just one out in the inning. The Phillies’ left fielder dug into the box, and on the third pitch of his at-bat, Marsh smoked a go-ahead three-run bomb to left field, making it 5-4 Phillies. It was only the second home run against a lefty this season for Marsh.
Now with the lead, the runs didn’t stop there. After a flyout from Kemp, Max Kepler was up next, and he lifted a ball deep into the right field seats, making it 6-4 Phillies.
After taking the lead, Sanchez remained in the game and worked through the middle of the Dodgers easily, sending them down 1-2-3 thanks to a pair of groundouts and a lineout. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, they did nearly the same in the top of the seventh, going down on a pair of groundouts and a strikeout from Stott.
Nearing 90 pitches on the night, Sanchez went back out for the bottom of the seventh. Pages was the first batter for Los Angeles, and he lined out to right, and Sanchez then picked up a groundout from Hernandez for out number two. Miguel Rojas came on to pinch hit for Ben Rortvedt, and after battling, Sanchez came out victorious, sending him down on a slider for his sixth strikeout of the game, ending the inning.
Schwarber led off the top of the eighth with a walk, but a flyout from Harper and a line drive double play ended the inning. In the bottom of the eighth, the Dodgers rallied to tie the game up.
David Robertson, who was the hero the night prior, came on in relief for Sanchez and right away showed signs of struggle. Ohtani led the inning off with a solo shot down the right field line to make it a one-run game. Robertson picked up a strikeout to Betts, but Hernández doubled down the left field line, putting the tying run in scoring position.
Robertson was then pulled for Tanner Banks, who kicked off his relief appearance with a walk to Freeman and a single to Edman to load the bases. Call was up next, and he lifted a ball to deep left field for an out, but Hernández trotted home to score, tying the game at six. Pages then popped out to first to end the inning.
In the top of the ninth, Kemp grounded out and Kepler popped out for two quick outs to start the inning. Weston Wilson was up next, and he smoked a double down the left field line, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position. After an intentional walk to Stott, Marchan was up next, and after getting into a 3-1 count, Marchan smoked a ball deep down the right field line for a go-ahead three-run home run to make it 9-6 Philadelphia.
In the bottom of the ninth, Jhoan Duran was on to pick up the save. Duran picked up a quick two outs, thanks to groundouts from Max Muncy and Dalton Rushing, and after falling behind in the count to Ohtani, Duran got a comebacker that he flagged down and fired to first for the final out, with the Philling picking up the 9-6 win.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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